Albania ALBANIA 2019 - Jonida Maliqi - Ktheju tokës

[lavieenrose]

That backing singer as well is none other than my Festivali i kenges fave, Artemisa Mithi I got two for the price of one tonight.

W H A T?! That's Artemisa?! I hardly recognized her! Well thank you Artemisa for the funniest moment of Eurovision 2019 thus far for me

 

[BorisBubbles]

I'm still trying to make sense of Jonida being there because I always believed in her chances until the second rehearsal and wrote off her chances... AND SHE QUALIFIED ANYWAY FUCK YEAH!

She was fucking awesome. Yes, there performance was far from perfect. Yes, it was not the best staging. Yes, the dress is a disaster. Yes, Romania were robbed. None of it matters. What matters is that Jonida made it, once again rewarding Albania for a bold choice, once again rewarding quality music, once again proving anyone can qualify as long as they put in enough effort. I don't even have room to be sad for Romania or angry that Lennywise The Dancing Clown made it though. Jonida managed to morph from Guaranteed qualifier => BL qualifier => Expected NQ => SHOCK qualifier and that is a rollercoaster I'd ride any day.

 

[lavieenrose]

Guaranteed qualifier => BL qualifier => Expected NQ => SHOCK qualifier

Time place or manner to note that that was Eugent's journey to a tee as well?

 

[BorisBubbles]

Time place or manner to note that that was Eugent's journey to a tee as well?

YESS i was going to put that in my post at first but I couldn't fit it in. Glad you pointed it out immediately.

 

[blue00eyes]

Of course 02. No chances for top10

 

[GlamSIMorous]

I love a good old underdog. I always believed in this song and I nearly teared up when I saw her qualifying. I dont understand the blogs all saying the staging was bad ... or not staging at all. It was classic, not overdone, it was elegant. I loved it, very atmospheric. JONIDA YOU SLAY!

 

[Sammy]

It's nice to see that also this year entries in other languages than english can make it to the final. After two years of qualification in a row, I hope that the times of awful revamps of FdK-winners are over for good.

 

[blartashura]

So happy to see her in the final. I was so worried about the reviews during her rehearsals but in the end it looked great on screen. My favorite part of the performance is definitely when Artemisa starts the "mourning" part, it's so beautifully caught in camera.

However her position order in the Finale is so bad, hope she will get a good placement out of it.

 

[opinionsigotem]

How apt she was dressed as Eygptian goddess Isis because she was giving me LIFE She probs barely made it but who cares?

 

[ag89]

Ok, I didn't put her last night in my top 10 simply because this semi final was tough as hell. But I am not surprised, she really looked egzotic and different compared to other singers last night. Well done.

 

[JSSArcos]

I'm so glad that I got the qualification ... Jonida voice is perfect.

This will fight for my points in the final

 

[GermanBango]

Am I really the only one who noticed that she was out of tune like 75% of the song last night?

 

[njdevils94]

Jonida absolutely nailed her jury rehearsal!

I saw the performance.

 

[Ezio]

I hope this beautiful and everlasting piece of art smashes the Top 10 tomorrow

 

[Milos-BC]

I am glad that I was wrong here. Deserved qualification. Not sure about the chances in the final but this is already a success.

 

[Himan]

Am I really the only one who noticed that she was out of tune like 75% of the song last night?

I always feel lots of people from these regions think that's the case, but it's not. This was the way it should be sung and it's beautiful.

 

[njdevils94]

 

[Gitte]

Our commentator just said too that she sang out of tune. During the semifinal. I thought she sounded good?

 

[Yoozek]

I always feel lots of people from these regions think that's the case, but it's not. This was the way it should be sung and it's beautiful.

Then how you gonna explain me why she nailed it this time? She was wrong this time cause it didn't sound like a disaster?

 

[tuorem]

So few reactions for such a masterpiece.

The last Albanian entry I 100% supported was "I'm Alive" in 2015, so while Albania holds a special place in my heart (to me, they're the Balkan counterparts of Italians in terms of music style, composition quality and charismatic performers), I had no particular expectations this year mostly due to "Fairytale" and "World" not lighting my fire in recent years.

On first listen, "Ktheju tokës" took me by surprise because this is the Albania I like the most: with its local flavour, spellbinding melody, intricate arrangements, wonderful language, deep message and brilliant vocalist, I could only bow down before Jonida. Yes, she was off during the semi, but thankfully she managed to qualify despite her non-attention-whorish staging and delivered one of the strongest performances of the grand final imo.

Although France gave them no points at all, I voted for her because she was THAT great.

I'm still shocked about how strong their package was this year. The staging could have been a bit less empty, but Jonida owned the stage like a true captivating diva. The song is definitely a part of the best Albanian entries ever, and their best entry since "Suus" (aka my staple, my all-time favourite ESC entry).

Well done guys! Despite performing in second place, you managed to achieve a decent result, even though I know you would have been much higher with me. You lost potential points since I wasn't in the French jury

Regarding my personal ranking, I'm actively working on it; I don't know its exact place yet, but "Ktheju tokës" is a top-five lock. Thank you for blessing me through music guys!